Little by little I'm nibbling off the trails in Gorges State Park. One section I'd never been on as the western half of the Auger Hole Trail which climbs 2 miles from the Toxaway River to the western boundary of the park. Though in itself its rather unspectacular (unless you appreciate how wonderfully isolated this stretch of forest is), there are a number of natural and man-made features not far off the trail which makes this area of the park one of its most unique.

Beginning at Turkeypen Gap (FYI, there's no trailhead parking here, I was dropped off!) I would make my way down towards the Toxaway River. Along the way I'd be stopping by a couple of wonderful unnamed waterfalls, the site of some 100-year old lime kilns, the always stunning Lower Bearwallow Falls, before winding up down in the interior of the park at the Auger Hole at the confluence of Bearwallow Creek and the Toxaway River. All tallied up, between my time on and off the trail, this would be around a 5-mile hike. Sounds simple enough but my couple of bushwhacking forays along the way would remind me once again just how rugged a landscape this park contains. A bit battered by the end, this 'short' hike made me earn what I came to see which, I have to admit, made me appreciate the experience even more...

Hike Length: ~4.5 miles Hike Duration: 3:30

Trailhead Temp: 60'F

Min. Elevation: 1,400' Max. Elevation: 1,850'

Total Vertical Gain: 450' Avg. Elevation Gain / Mile: 225'

Gorges State Park - Lower Bearwallow Falls & the Auger Hole (4-30-14)

Being dropped off and picked up at Turkeypen Gap would allow me to make a considerably shorter hike to Lower Bearwallow Falls than starting over at the Frozen Creek Access (5-miles round trip vs. 8-miles). This is the Auger Hole Trail as it arrives at Turkeypen...from here its an almost contuinual 2-mile descent to the Toxaway River...

Wildflower hunting had been rough so far this year so I was hoping this hike would help improve my record a bit. It wasn't long until I found my first of the day, Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), which was growing in very large numbers all along the trail...

A look at the Bearwallow Creek Crossing on the Auger Hole Trail. Just upstream beyond the rhododendron I could hear the unmistakable sound of falling water. No named waterfalls are listed near here so I immediately decided to add a short exploratory bushwhack to see what I could find...

Just upstream from the rhodo's in the previous shot I found this pretty 10' cascade...it sounded like there was something bigger above it so I set about trying to get around the ledges this falls drop over...

What I found above the first set of cascades was a deep, rocky pool with this beautiful 15' waterfall above it. As far as I can tell it doesn't have a name, probably because there are many bigger falls on Bearwallow Creek both up and downstream...

From Bearwallow Creek the trail begins a steady climb over a steep ridge. Near the top I passed a gated road, known as the Indian Camp Road, which follows a high ridge 4-miles or so to the upper portion of Bearwallow Creek...

As the Auger Hole Trail reaches the height of land east of the Bearwallow Creek crossing it traverses a large slide area from a few years back. The park has done a good job of cutting through the slide but one gets the feeling that it won't take much effort for mother nature to make a mess of this stretch once again...

One of my planned 'side-trips' for this hike was down to the old lime kilns along Bearwallow Creek. A very overgrown old path is the best way to descend but that didn't make it easy as briars and blow-downs made the going quite rough in spots...

As I neared the point where the old path makes its final drop down to the creek I found this old iron something lying in the middle of the trail. So focused was I on this peice of metal that I completely missed the lime kilns themselves which are dug into the hillside right next to where I was standing...

Standing at the flats below the lime kilns it wasn't all that far to Lower Bearwallow Falls (maybe a quarter mile). The trouble is that a steep ridge protrudes into the river between them making it impossible to follow the bank downstream to the falls. My only option was to hunker down and try to bushwhack my way over the ridge to the faint trail which would lead to the falls on the other side...

After much cussing and a bit of bleeding (the Greenbrier and raspberry's had taken their toll), I broke out above the Bearwallow on the far side of the ridge. From here it was just a short, steep, drop to Lower Bearwallow...

I had seen pictures and knew that Lower Bearwallow Falls was a beauty but I was still spellbound. The delicate nature of the falling water, the ruggedness of the surrounding cliffs, the lushness of the forest, and the way the mist seemed to just hang in the air all came together here to create one of the most surreal and serene natural settings I've ever experienced...

I decided to make a quick jaunt over to the confluence of the Toxaway and Bearwallow. On the way over I passed through a beautiful open bottom-land known as Bearwallow Flats. After a long cold winter being bathed in green like this is unbelievably refreshing...

You can hardly see it but Bearwallow Creek enters the Toxaway here from the right. This area is known as the Auger Hole, the spot which lends its name to the whole area and trail I was traveling today...

A couple dozen yards up from the Toxaway River was a strange 'wall' of half-buried boulders. I'm curious whether these were left here by the massive 1916 flood following the failure of the Toxaway Dam...

After finishing the hike I decided to take the opportunity to travel the lower portion of the Chestnut Mountain Road as far as the Horsepasture River. The 3-miles from Turkeypen to the Horsepasture was some of the most rugged and narrow I've ever driven in my trusty old Ford, but it was a blast. Here it takes a well-earned break along the banks of the Horsepasture River following the descent...